Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoMongolia PicturesAn orca performing for crowds at a water park should be recognized as out of its element, according to filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite.

Watching the footage of orca attacks collected in
Blackfish is upsetting and scary.

The damning documentary — making its TV debut tonight on CNN after a summertime release in
theaters — centers on the treatment of the animals by marine parks, where they perform tricks for
customers.

Upsetting are not only the accounts of human victims (some of whom died horrible, grisly deaths)
but also those of the orcas (who don’t seem happy to be there).

Understandably, then, the management of SeaWorld — the marine park that takes the brunt of the
film’s many criticisms and whose business model relies heavily on aquatic shows — is upset,
too.

Although SeaWorld declined to be interviewed on camera, according to information posted this
week on the CNN website, the company did provide a statement to the cable network:

“
Blackfish is billed as a documentary,” the statement said, “but, instead of a fair and
balanced treatment of a complex subject, the film is inaccurate and misleading; and, regrettably,
exploits a tragedy that remains a source of deep pain for Dawn Brancheau’s family, friends and
colleagues.

“Perhaps most important, the film fails to mention SeaWorld’s commitment to the safety of its
team members and guests, and to the care and welfare of its animals.”

SeaWorld isn’t the only marine park explored in the film, just the largest and best-known.

The core assertions made by filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite are shocking, despite the dispute
regarding their accuracy.

For one, captivity doesn’t seem good for orcas, who are highly intelligent, sensitive mammals.
They tend to have a higher mortality rate living in parks, the film notes, than they do in the
wild.

Adding weight to the accusations against SeaWorld is a 2012 ruling by the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration requiring SeaWorld trainers to work with the animals only in the presence
of a physical barrier separating them from the animals. SeaWorld filed an appeal, which was
resolved mostly in favor of OSHA.

Some of the higher-profile incidents — including the 2010 death of trainer Brancheau — are
discussed by former SeaWorld trainers, accompanied by audio and/or video of the attacks. Many of
them involve a single male orca, known as Tilikum, who has been involved in three deaths.

Blackfish suggests that the animal is not wholly to blame.

SeaWorld is portrayed as one obvious villain, but the film can’t do much to stop it.

Also guilty, the film suggests, are the people who pay to see marine-animal acts, thus keeping
the parks in business.